Today, the United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champions and Bloomberg Philanthropies previewed select speakers and programming for the United Nations Climate Action: Race to Zero and Resilience Forum. The Forum, to be held on the afternoon of September 21 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, will bring together heads of state, government and civil society leaders, philanthropists, business executives, and grassroots climate activists to bridge the gap between government leaders and non-state actors to ensure the fulfillment of climate pledges and commitments, and drive the urgent, radical collaboration needed to deliver on climate goals around the world.
Select speakers and special guests will include: Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone; Josh Amponsem, Climate Lead, Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth; Sekou Andrews, Poetic Voice; Xiye Bastida, youth climate activist and Co-Founder, Re-Earth Initiative; Sarah El Battouty, Global Ambassador for Race to Zero and Race to Resilience; Paul Bodnar, Global Head of Sustainable Investing, BlackRock; Mark Carney, UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance; Sagarika Chatterjee, Director of Climate Change, Principles for Responsible Investment; Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund; Nili Gilbert, Chair, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero; Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder, the Jane Goodall Institute, and UN Messenger of Peace; Linda-Eling Lee, Head of ESG and Climate Research, MSCI; Mindy Lubber, CEO and President, Ceres; Catherine McKenna, Chair, UN Secretary-General’s High-level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments; Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, High-Level Climate Action Champion, COP27; Lina Osman, Head of Sustainable Finance, West, Standard Chartered; Stephanie Pfeifer, CEO, IIGCC; Mary Schapiro, Vice Chair for Public Policy and Special Advisor to the Founder and Chairman, Bloomberg LP; Alok Sharma, President of COP26; H.E. Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Egypt, and President-Designate of COP27; Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); Günther Thallinger, Board Member, Allianz SE; Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal; Mark Watts, Executive Director, C40 Cities; and Shemara Wikramanayake, CEO, Macquarie Group.
The Forum will address key hurdles to climate progress, including access to data, the mobilization of capital, fostering collaboration between federal and non-state actors, ensuring transparent monitoring of climate commitments, and establishing accountability for a just, resilient net-zero future. Speakers and guests will also examine the progress being made through the Races and explore what more is needed from all stakeholders to create a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient economy in the lead up to COP27 in Egypt and beyond.
The Forum will take place in the afternoon from 1:30pm – 4:30pm ET, following The Earthshot Prize Innovation Summit in the morning. Details on the event can be found here. Media interested in attending the Earthshot Innovation Summit can submit their request here.
The Race to Zero and Race to Resilience campaigns were launched ahead of COP26 to rally leadership and support from actors outside of national governments to build momentum towards a healthy, resilient, zero carbon economy and to spark a step-change in global ambition for climate resilience. This year, both global campaigns have sought to harness the momentum built in the run-up to COP26 and translate their members’ robust commitments into rapid implementation. To date, over 11,000 non-state actors from across 116 countries have joined Race to Zero, committing to meeting the Paris goals and halving global emissions by 2030. These include 8,000 businesses, 1,000 cities, and 500 financial institutions – including well over two-thirds of FTSE 100 companies. In parallel, Race to Resilience now comprises 28 Partners, representing over 2,000 organizations, delivering action in over 100 countries.
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About Bloomberg Philanthropies
Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 941 cities and 173 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a pro bono consultancy that works in cities around the world. In 2021, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $1.66 billion. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
About the Climate Champions
The UN High Level Champions for Climate Action from the UK and Egypt – Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin and Nigel Topping – build on the legacy of their predecessors to engage with non-state actors and activate the ‘ambition loop’ with national governments. Their work is fundamentally designed to encourage a collaborative shift across all of society towards a decarbonised economy so that we can all thrive in a healthy, resilient, zero carbon world.
Mahmoud and Nigel have convened a team to help them deliver on this work through flagship campaigns, targeted stakeholder engagement and leadership in systems transformation.
About Race to Zero
Race to Zero is the UN-backed global campaign rallying non-state actors – including companies, cities, regions, financial, educational, and healthcare institutions – to take rigorous and immediate action to halve global emissions within this decade and deliver a healthier, fairer, zero carbon world in time.
All members are racing towards the same overarching goal: reducing emissions across all scopes swiftly and fairly in line with science, with transparent action plans, robust near-term and long-term targets, and annual reporting against their progress.
Led by the High-Level Climate Champions for Climate Action – Nigel Topping and Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin – Race to Zero mobilizes actors across the global economy in radical collaboration to decarbonise, giving national governments the confidence to go further, faster.
About Race to Resilience
Race to Resilience – the sibling campaign to Race to Zero – is a non-state actor led global campaign to catalyze a step-change in global ambition for accelerating the investment and implementation of adaptation solutions. It aims to put people and nature first in pursuit of a resilient world where we do not just survive climate shocks and stresses, but thrive in spite of them. Led by the high level Climate Action Champions – Nigel Topping and Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin – the campaign aims to increase the resilience for four billion people living in vulnerable communities, in collaboration with partner organizations from around the world, while developing tools to support them in their work. Through a partnership of initiatives, the campaign focuses on addressing the climate risks faced by urban, rural and coastal vulnerable communities and elevates the actions that businesses, financial institutions, civil society organizations and local communities are already pursuing to unlock systems transformation towards resilience.
As part of the Youth Fellowship programme, the new fellows will help mobilise climate action amongst non-state actors to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, in close collaboration with the UNFCCC, the Marrakech Partnership and the COP Presidencies.
From bustling urban landscapes of the U.S., to vibrant communities in Mexico, Brazil, Germany, and beyond, discover the ambitious initiatives undertaken by cities in the Race to Zero campaign under Cities Race to Zero.
With five months until COP28, UN Climate Change High-Level Champion from the COP28 Presidency, H.E Razan Khalifa Al Mubarak has told stakeholders at an event in Dubai on Monday they must promote collective climate action.
The UN Climate Change High-Level Champions and the Dubai Chambers invite you to an event aimed at mobilising climate action in the UAE ahead of COP28.
